Systems will support over 40 times increase in meteorological data to be ingested, processed and distributed compared to current satellites.

Delivery and installation of the first 89 racks of equipment and software to be completed in April 2014.

Harris is the prime contractor and systems integrator for the GOES-R Series Ground Segment.

Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) has passed a critical pre-shipment review and initiated a phased delivery and installation of hardware and software that will form the network infrastructure for the ground segment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite — R Series (GOES-R) program.

GOES-R will enable more accurate weather forecasts by supplying meteorological data to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with much greater detail and significantly faster than the current GOES satellites. The GOES-R series will provide continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth's Western Hemisphere, as well as space weather monitoring, and will serve as a primary tool for the detection and tracking of hurricanes and severe weather. Launch of the first GOES-R satellite is scheduled for early 2016.

Harris will install 89 of the systems' 155 total racks of equipment by mid-April 2014 at NOAA's satellite operations facilities in Virginia; West Virginia and Maryland.

The Harris systems will form an enterprise-wide backbone that will enable 40 times greater volume of data to be ingested, processed and then distributed to NOAA's National Weather Service and more than 10,000 other direct users. Harris also is providing satellite command and control software, which was delivered during the summer of 2013 and is currently being used by NOAA satellite operations teams.

"We have worked closely with NOAA and our industry partners to achieve this key milestone, providing the foundation for upcoming deliveries of weather product generation software later in 2014," said Romy Olaisen, vice president, Civil Programs, Harris Government Communications Systems.

Harris is providing incremental deliveries of the ground system to allow time for NOAA satellite operators and weather monitoring organizations to prepare for the new equipment, procedures and data associated with GOES-R.